niina: DOING IT FOR THE PLOT
WORDS MAISIE JANE DANIELS
There’s something wonderfully contradictory about niina. Her music can feel like the soundtrack to a questionable 3am decision - messy, euphoric, romantic and very much “fuck it, let’s see what happens” - but underneath the chaos is an artist who has spent the last few years learning when to slow down, when to let go, and when to simply enjoy being alive.
After nine years in London, niina found herself craving something different. Lisbon offered the space to breathe, to step away from the noise of the music industry and, perhaps most importantly, to remember that life exists beyond making music. As she puts it, “don’t make art your life; make your life an art.”
That philosophy runs through her latest single, “high by the sea”, a sun-soaked ode to the romantic, chaotic girlies who live for the plot, even when the plot gets a little questionable. But listen a little closer and there’s vulnerability beneath the humour: questions of intimacy, sensuality, connection and what it means to reclaim parts of yourself that have felt like they belonged to somebody else.
For niina, the world around the music matters just as much as the music itself. From her surreal, playful visuals to niina’s Love Club, she’s building something that exists beyond the screen - a space for people to meet, dance, be ridiculous, and feel connected in a world that can sometimes feel increasingly disconnected.
In conversation with F Word, niina talks Lisbon, creative freedom, doing it for the plot, finding her confidence, building her own universe and why sometimes the best thing you can do for your art is go and actually live your life.
So turn the volume up and, as niina might say, fuck it.
Maisie: You grew up in Wiltshire, but you’re now based in Lisbon. What took you there in the first place, and what made you want to stay?
niina: I was living in London for about nine years, and I did a lot of my growing up there. I just got to a point where London wasn’t for me anymore. The big city life, the money and everything just felt like the end of a chapter. I didn’t know where else to go because nowhere else really felt like home to me.
So I came back to Lisbon for a month just to see what it was like, and I instantly clicked with it. It’s such a beautiful city. Everything about the vibe feels very inspiring and creative. It’s all a bit hodgepodge together, but very beautiful. Very good vibes. The sunshine helps, too!
"Don’t make art your life; make your life an art."Maisie: Would you say living in Lisbon has changed the way you make music?
niina: For sure. I feel like I had some version of creative block, and honestly, when I first moved out to Lisbon, I was genuinely starting to think that I might quit music. Having done it for so long, I felt a bit traumatised by the industry, and London — everything was just way too overwhelming.
I feel like Lisbon gave me a real opportunity to slow down and appreciate the small things. Not put so much importance on things that aren’t important, and just enjoy my life. I think that’s the key to creativity.
I was saying this to my friend the other day: don’t make art your life; make your life an art. I think that is very much the case with moving to Lisbon and learning to breathe again and just enjoy my life. And then the music comes.
Maisie: Let’s talk about your latest single, “high by the sea”. It feels like such a summery track, but there’s definitely a melancholic undercurrent running through it. You’ve described it as being for the “romantic, chaotic girlies” who can’t help but “do it for the plot” — so what does the plot mean to you?
niina: Particularly with this song, I feel like I’ve always been a bit of a party girl, and I always follow the adventure. Sometimes not in the healthiest way. So the plot is not always healthy!
I think this song is about being a bit of a hopeless romantic for the adventure. Going off to wild parties, getting into someone’s car, just saying “fuck it” and doing it, and seeing where the night takes you.
There’s definitely a romance to that for me, and something that I can’t help myself but do. I’ve always done it since I was a teenager. Like I said, I don’t know if I’ll ever grow out of it. I’m not really condoning it, but I think there’s a romance in being a bit dangerous and doing it for the plot.
Maisie: I also love that there’s something very British about it — shout-out to the Wetherspoons lyric! Were you consciously drawing on that British sense of humour and chaos when you wrote it?
niina: Not consciously. I think that’s just a product of my style. I’m very British through and through. No amount of anything is going to change that. It’s just my sense of humour and personality coming out in my lyrics. I think I’ve got a very British sense of humour as well.
"It’s always felt, from a very young age, like my sensuality belongs to someone else."Maisie: There’s a lyric that really struck me: “I just wish my sensuality felt like it was for me.” What does that line mean to you?
niina: I really love that you picked up on that. I feel like that’s one of the saddest lyrics I’ve ever written. When I wrote it, I was like, “That’s really sad.”
I was going through a phase of my life where I was really looking at my relationship with intimacy and with men, and how that had been. I wouldn’t say it had been an overall very positive or curious experience. It had felt quite one-sided.
I feel like I haven’t really had an opportunity to explore my own sensuality. It’s always felt, from a very young age, like my sensuality belongs to someone else. I think that lyric came from that realisation.
Obviously, once you have that realisation, you can start undoing it and taking steps to own your own space and empower yourself into that position. But I think it’s sad that I can be 31 years old and feel like that. And if I feel like that, there are probably a lot of people who have had a similar experience.
I think that’s also a by-product of the story I’m telling in the lyrics: loving doing it for the plot, going off on these crazy adventures. Sometimes you’re sacrificing a part of yourself for that. If you’re not completely in control, things can go wrong, or you can sacrifice something as part of that.
"If we’re going to do it, we might as well enjoy it and have fun with it."Maisie: I really noticed that with your music videos, too. There always seems to be a sense of humour running through your visuals, even when you’re dealing with quite vulnerable or emotional subjects. How important is it to you not to take yourself, or the world you’ve created, too seriously?
niina: I think I’ve spent so much time in the music industry taking myself extremely seriously, and it just hasn’t been helpful.
We’re in the music industry, which is not a lucrative job, and it’s a very hard industry. So if we’re going to do it, we might as well enjoy it and have fun with it.
In essence, it’s all about play and curiosity, and that’s what fun is. We can get serious when we need to, but I think approaching something with a little bit of humour, or not taking it too seriously, is a really nice way of connecting as well.
Maisie: It feels like you’re gradually building this whole universe around yourself through your music and visuals. Where do those visuals usually begin for you?
niina: Firstly, it’s really nice to hear you say that. When you’re doing everything yourself, it’s nice to hear someone see that it’s building.
I have to be careful about overthinking things. I’ll decide when I’m going to sit down and think about what I’m going to do for the video, and there has to be a start and a stop.
Usually it’ll be a day of just listening to the track, thinking about it and thinking about what I have available to me — the location, who can shoot it. Usually I won’t start thinking about it until I know those things, because otherwise we need to limit it down before we come up with the ideas. We have to know what we’re playing with.
From there, I’ll just be thinking about it over time, giving the track a listen and starting to imagine it. Then it all starts coming together when I talk it out and write it out, and see what the links are.
I try to keep it stylistically consistent — always have an element of surrealism, be conceptual, keep that style throughout. I want it to be a bit surreal, a bit silly, but also conceptual. Something that makes you think a little bit more, rather than spelling it out to the viewer.
Maisie: I love that. You’ve also created niina’s Love Club, taking this community of “niina girls” from online into a physical space. What made you want to take that community offline, and what does the Love Club involve?
niina: I feel like I’ve spent so much time online, talking to a screen over previous releases, and I realised that what was really important to me this time around was seeing people. Having a tangible, real-life thing where I could see people, connect with people, have an excuse to talk and invite people to things — to really make the space come to life.
That was such a missing ingredient for me over the years, and I’m really pleased that I started it because the first Love Club just did everything for me.
We had hula hoops, great music, everyone was really silly and had fun. It was exactly the space I wanted to create. It’s serious because it has seriously good DJs, really good music and is really well thought out, but there’s also a lot of depth to it. And then it’s completely ridiculous as well, with props and hula hoops and just prompting silly silliness, basically.
"You realise that most people do want to connect, most people want to chat, and most people might not be into clubbing, but they definitely want to have those connections."Maisie: Do you think that need for connection was something that was missing for you?
niina: Definitely. I do have a habit with my music, because I do everything myself, of not really delving outside of that.
Once you’ve written the song on your own, produced the music on your own, done all the admin and made all the content yourself, you get to a point where you’re like, “Okay, we do need to start asking people for help and bringing more people into this world.”
I found that difficult because I’m not used to it. I’m quite used to just being this lone person in my bedroom. But I think the need for connection is so prominent right now, everywhere. Everyone’s sick of being online. We all just need to get out and have conversations.
What was really beautiful about the process behind niina’s Love Club was that I was nervous because it was my first ever event. I didn’t have any experience getting out there and doing all these things. But I wanted it all to be very tangible. I wanted to connect in person.
I didn’t want to be messaging people on Instagram saying, “Come to my event.” I wanted to be out in the city that I’m living in and love, and use it as an excuse to connect with more people face to face.
It was daunting, but it was such a wonderful experience. I’d recommend it to anyone. Just having a hook, having a reason to go up to people and talk to them, because it’s quite difficult to do that. But if you have a reason, it’s so rewarding. It’s so good for your self-esteem.
You actually connect with people, and you realise that most people do want to connect, most people want to chat, and most people might not be into clubbing, but they definitely want to have those connections. That’s really reassuring.
Maisie: Before we finish, can you tell us anything about what’s coming next?
niina: The next single is a track called “dream queen”, which is coming out on 9 October, the same date as the next niina’s Love Club - which is at Village Underground in Lisbon.
The album is coming, too — we just haven’t officially announced the release date yet!
Maisie: Okay, let’s keep it mysterious! In three words, how would you describe the album?
niina: Deep. Actually, quite deep… but then it’s also fun. Messy.
Maisie: Quick-fire-ish questions - what’s something you’re currently obsessed with?
niina: Cats. I’m always obsessed.
Maisie: What’s something you believe now that you didn’t believe five years ago?
niina: I believe in myself a lot more than I did five years ago.
Maisie: And finally, the most important question… what’s your favourite "F" Word?
niina: Well, I mean, it has to be “fuck” doesn’t it? Fuck it is my favourite. My last single was “fuck it”, so it’s got to be fuck.
